In helping women leave big law, I see common pitfalls where they get stuck. One of the biggest is pleasing people. This is a complicated one for women. There is a tremendous double standard. If they’re not nice and “a pleasure to work with” they get bad reviews, less...

When someone would call our home phone and ask my dad to make a charitable donation, he used to say, “I gave at the office.” Most of my clients give way too much at the office. And I’m not talking about buying Girl Scout Cookies. You give your best effort, intellect,...

Getting inspiration during a winter beach walk on Cape Cod. I find inspiration in lots of places. A FAVORITE is Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary Vee (as he is known) is a self-made media expert and monster of generosity. He is amazingly honest, tough and kind. He essentially...

At the new year, many people pick a "word of the year". For a long time, the word "expectations" had a bum rap in my book. I once heard someone say: “Expectations are planned disappointments.” This is especially true when we expect other people to behave as we would...

The “Best of 2017” lists are starting to come out. It’s a year, where we need to focus on the good things, and keep fighting the bad. Here are a few of my favorite podcasts and mindset tools from the year: The Happy Lawyer Project and The Resilient Lawyer Podcasts Two...

Giving gratitude consciously and intentionally is a practice I️ cultivate daily. The benefits of gratitude are well documented, from living longer to having greater satisfaction at work. Mostly, it feels good. It takes us out of feeling sorry for ourselves and opens...

This blog post Overcoming Inertia originally appeared in the September/October 2017 Newsletter for bestfriendsatthebar.com. I recently spoke with a reporter who was trying to shape a “you against them” story about my business, WILL – Women Interested in Leaving...

Before leaving office, Barack Obama met with the New York Times book critic, Michiko Kakutani and said, "Storytelling brings people together to have the courage to take action on behalf of their lives." Think of a favorite story... Whether it's a novel, Rosa Parks...

Remember that silly but fun game of adding the phrase "in bed" the end of a fortune cookie saying? "You shall have a satisfying year."… in bed. "Those who treat each other with kindness, will receive kindness."....in bed. I have a new favorite word that can do similar...

Contemporary neuroscience shows us that the more we focus on something the stronger our neuro pathways become. The more we think about it, literally the stronger it gets. To change our lives, be happier and less fearful, we have to redirect our thoughts to focus on...

Recently, I asked one of the lawyers I work with, "What would you do if failure was not an option?". She couldn't answer right away. She said, "I've buried those parts of myself so far down, I don't know. I need to think about that." You know the phrase: To your own...